I just leveled up my smoking and grilling game dramatically

Cafe Society
1

I’m building an outdoor grill station. (I got a beautiful 2’x4’ piece of granite to use as the countertop for $50, but that’s not germane to the topic!)

Part of the plan was to replace my 22" Weber. I grill and smoke on it, but there’s just not enough room to smoke very large cuts or multiple racks of ribs etc.

I ran across the 27" Weber online, and that was what I had my heart set on. Unfortunately, they are not available anywhere. Don’t know if Weber stopped making them or what. Very disappointing.

So I was at Home Depot a couple days ago browsing grills/smokers, and had pretty much decided to go with another 22" Weber, tricked out with a bunch of accessories like a blower for heat regulation.

On the way out, I noticed 3 grills tucked back in the nook adjacent to the grills where seeds and things are. So, I went to take a look.

The first thing I noticed about these contraptions was what they looked like nothing I had seen before.

The second thing I noticed, was that they were 50% off for seasonal clearance.

Well, having not my phone on me for some reason, I hied me home to do some research. Based on that I told my wife “Found my grill, going to get it now!!!”

And that is how I ended up with a Masterbuilt Gravity Series 560 charcoal grill/smoker. And this thing is impressive.

It works kind of like a pellet grill, in that it maintains its temperature automatically, but is uses charcoal with or without wood added. There’s a big ol’ hopper on the side, a variable-speed intake fan that blows in to the combustion chamber, and an exhaust from the chamber and under a diffusion manifold in the cooking space. AND it’s set up with bluetooth and wifi, so you can adjust cooking temperature and/or monitor up to 4 food temperature probes from your easy chair.

Temp control goes from 125 (50?) to 700. Manufacturer says it gets to 250 in around 15 minutes and 700 in around 20 iirc.

I smoked a batch of about 10 lbs. of chicken thighs yesterday, and they were hands down the best batch I have ever made. Today I am in the process of smoking a chuck roast for sandwiches, and it was almost ridiculously easy.

So or $250 I got a product that does everything a Traeger does, but better because you get real charcoal/smoke flavor, at a significantly lower price point.

I’m going to get really used to having this thing around, I can tellya.

2

Next KC Dopefest is at Sicks Ate’s house!! :grinning:

3

My parking is shite, but if I can get my neighbor or the church across the street to handle overflow parking, it’s on! :grin:

4

Here’s some pics of yesterday’s chicken, and a picture of the chuck before I took it off to put it in the oven to finish.

https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1e3QHVR6s_nJK66x1XOf9H581G1Z36uJW?usp=sharing

5

Your link is not public.

6

Dang! I thought I got it right this time. Ok, I’ll change it here in a bit when I get a minit.

7

Public link with dinner pics.

https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1e3QHVR6s_nJK66x1XOf9H581G1Z36uJW?usp=sharing

8

Really nice looking pit and food.

9

Eh… just buy the charcoal pellets for your pellet grill if that’s a big deal.

10

Nice! Yeah, good equipment makes a big difference. When I upgraded to a Weber Smokey Mountain smoker from an el cheapo Brinkmann it made a huge difference in the end result.

11

No matter what smoker you buy, the thermometer is WRONG. Get a remote reading thermometer to really know the cook temperature.

12

I have heard that in a lot of cases with the mechanical ones. This grill has an electronic thermocouple. I laid the meat probe near it at 250 and they were within 5 or so degrees of each other. It’s kind of funny, there’s a huge dial ‘thermometer’ on the front, but it doesn’t show the actual temperature. It just reads “Smoke, BBQ, Grill, Sear”. Not sure why they even bothered to include it…

13

Yeah, if you are concerned about exact temp, a dedicated thermometer is probably the best way to go, but this thing looks like it should be pretty accurate. That said, don’t stress about temps. You have wide latitude. I pretty much never bother except maybe to probe the meat at some point to get an idea of where it’s at. That’s about it. Some people are super anal about this, but that kind of cooking is not for me. As long as you’re somewhere from 200 to about 300, you’re fine. (I like it on the higher end, 275 or so).

14

Yep, that’s what I got used to on the Weber, since there’s absolutely no way to keep it exactly dialed in. Like you said, if I was between 2-300 I was happy enough. Honestly that’s about the best you can hope for without sitting and staring at it for hours.

ETA: also checked the grill’s meat probe against my Weber instant read probe in the roast. Within a few degrees there as well.

15

That sandwich pic is making me hungry and I just had lunch, Dammit!

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Not to make it worse, but it’s mayo/horseradish/vidalia onion sauce :wink: Extra horseradish to taste.

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Riffing on Alabama White sauce. Yes, you’re making it worse… :drooling_face:

For revenge, I’m making pollo adobado, elote, with rajas con queso for supper. Take that. :smile:

18

…you steppin up to me, bro? :laughing: Looks delicious :smile:

19

It was. And unfortunately, No. I need to pick up a smoker myself before I’ll play in your league! :laughing:I’m making do with a gas grill until then…